The mother of a 5-year-girl whose charred remains were found in an Aurora home last May was sentenced Wednesday in Arapahoe County District Court to 84 years in prison.
Alexus Nelson, 28, pleaded guilty to second-degree murder, tampering with a dead body and attempting to influence a public servant — all felony charges — in the death of her daughter, Maha Li Hobbs, during a disposition hearing on June 12.
The plea deal dropped additional felony charges of first-degree murder and child abuse resulting in death.
Arapahoe County District Court Judge Joseph Whitfield sentenced Nelson to 48 years in prison for second-degree murder, 24 years for tampering with her child’s remains and 12 years for attempting to influence a public servant. The sentences will run consecutively for a total of 84 years in the Department of Corrections.
Hobbs, then a 5-year-old girl from Aurora, was reported missing on May 31, 2023 as police searched for her and her mother.
Two days later, Nelson was arrested after Aurora detectives found the child’s charred remains in a plastic bag hidden in a utility closet at Nelson’s apartment, according to the arrest affidavit.
“Based on the state of the remains, as well as fragments found in the fireplace, it is apparent that Alexus attempted to destroy the remains by burning them,” an 18th Judicial District affidavit stated.
During the disposition hearing, Nelson’s lawyers pointed toward the mother’s significant childhood trauma as a factor in Hobbs’ death.
“Nelson had the irrational fear that anybody else caring for, interacting with, or helping Maha Li was more dangerous … and traumatizing in a lifelong way than Maha Li being home alone for extended periods of time,” the defense said. “That belief so tragically led to the opposite of what Nelson thought she was achieving, it led to the death of Maha Li.”
Aurora police were first alerted to the case when the five-year-old’s grandmother asked officers to conduct a welfare check, mentioning that Nelson had talked of “rehoming” her child.
When officers conducted a welfare check on May 30, 2023, Nelson told them she had given up Hobbs for adoption. When police were unable to find records of the adoption, they placed the mother under arrest.
The police obtained a search warrant for Nelson’s phone, which they’d seized as evidence, and found records showing two Google searches on May 2: “Can you overdose from melatonin?” and “Can you overdose from Xanax?” according to an affidavit.
Hobbs’ father told police he hadn’t seen his daughter for about two and half years because Nelson had cut off contact.
“I hope she gets the help she needs,” he said in Wednesday’s court hearing. The father said Nelson had always been attentive and caring to their daughter, but stopped acting that way out of the blue.
Both the prosecution and the defense said Wednesday that no official cause of death could be determined for Hobbs because of the condition the body was found in.
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